Drowsiness

The Drowsiness - A state of consciousness between full wakefulness and sleep or unconsciousness. Drowsiness is medically significant if a person fails to awaken after being shaken, pinched, and shouted at, or wakes but relapses into drowsiness.

Abnormal drowsiness must be treated as a medical emergency. It may be the result of a head injury, high fever, meningitis (inflammation of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord), uraemia (excess urea in the blood due to kidney failure), or liver failure. Alcohol or drugs may also produce this effect. In a person with diabetes mellitus, drowsiness may be a result of hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar levels) or of hyperglycaemia (high blood sugar levels).

Types of drowning
In four-fifths of deaths due to drowning, the victim has inhaled liquid into his or her lungs. In the other fifth, no liquid is present in the lungs; this condition is called dry drowning. In both cases, death is by suffocation.